Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Need advice on gold nugget hunting

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Randello88

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Jan 24, 2020
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Hi, I live in Northern Italy. Here we have, of course, a lot of Amazing relics from our millennial History. I bought a Garrett at Pro That i absolutely love for relic hunting. We also have many Gold nuggets in Little creeks. I am planning to Metal Detector for the Nuggets. Do you think My metal metaldetector, Maybe with a 5x8 coil Could Be Suitable
For the task? I would look for nuggets mostly in cracks of bedrock, Sometimes Underwater. Do you think buying the 5x8 coil is Worth the 150 dollars? Considering that I generally wouldn't look for nuggets in the Sand but mostly on the Surface of bedrock, keeping the metal detector very close to the rock, could i find also smaller nuggets, such as a 0.4 g one? Thanks, simone.
 
Small gold will more than likely require a higher frequency detector. That being said, if what I had was the at pro, I'd be out nugget hunting. Other than the frequency, gold is usually in fairly highly mineralized soil, provided you can balance, go hunting.

Air tests seem to get fair results
https://youtu.be/8XRxts97czk
 
I think the nuggets will need to be kind of large for the pro to find, it's not meant for tiny gold. Good luck and happy hunting đź‘Ť
I use the 5 by 8 coil all the time.đź‘Ť
 
CurlyMB said:
Small gold will more than likely require a higher frequency detector. That being said, if what I had was the at pro, I'd be out nugget hunting. Other than the frequency, gold is usually in fairly highly mineralized soil, provided you can balance, go hunting.

Air tests seem to get fair results
https://youtu.be/8XRxts97czk
Click to expand...

The fact that i Would hunt nuggets mostly on bedrock cracs could give me an advantage, right? The nuggets would be more or less at the level of the rock and there wouldn't be mineralized soil interfering with the sogna, right?
 
You may have great luck, or you may have issues with mineralization. Your limiting factor will be the frequency of the detector. Small gold, like your talking .1 or .2 of a gram may not give a signal on a lower frequency machine when it's an inch down in a crack. Research your areas as well, and focus on the areas that larger stuff has come from. It wouldn't keep me from giving it a shot. Do you have any small nuggets, or access to some? I have 2 small nuggets in this size that go along with me for initial checks before I walk away from the truck.
 
Don't let the AT Pro stop you from gold detecting. I am kinda in the same boat. I normally coin hunt but want to gold detect too, but without a dedicated gold machine, I debated on getting one. Given how infrequently I would gold detect and the distance I would have to go, I don't think it is worth it. So for me, the AT Pro gets the job. I was curious as to how small of gold it would pick up with the 5x8 coil. I tested very small pieces of lead, which have similar conductivity as gold. Here are my air test results:

Lead (grains - not grams), distance in inches
16......... 5"
10......... 4.5"
8............4"
6............3.5"
4............2.75"
2............1"
1............0.5"
 
Thanks for the answers. I have a 0.3 nugget o found in a river last year, i'll perform some tests. in regard to ground Balance, how does it work with the at pro? Any tip?
 
There is a bunch of videos on YouTube, search AT pro gold nugget. Chances are they'll go thru their settings in several of the videos. Good luck! & make sure to post back how things go!
 
CurlyMB said:
There is a bunch of videos on YouTube, search AT pro gold nugget. Chances are they'll go thru their settings in several of the videos. Good luck! & make sure to post back how things go!
Click to expand...

I didn't find many videos on nugget hunting with the at pro, actually. That's why i'm looking for advice here! There is a big difference in chance of finding gold nuggets of >0.4 grams with the method i want to use using a Pi detector? I'm still unsure wether to buy one.
 
Just a thought here. I would go do some swinging, maybe even look at dedicated vlf machines, maybe a used goldbug. Go get some shiny before spending enough to buy a nice used vehicle. Most of the people I've run into nuggetshooting (that have both) run vlf in areas with shallow bedrock, and pi in deeper stuff. PI will see deeper, vlf will see smaller, close to the surface targets.

Crevacing would be something I'd stick with a vlf machine for. Goldmoster 1000, gold bug, something along those lines. Don't think I've seen a detector hit on the small stuff as well as the GM1000.
I'll be heading to the gold fields here in a month, will be using my Nox 800. I'll stick to areas with fairly shallow bedrock. Someday I'll own a PI detector as well, until then, there is lots of gold to be found.
If your interested in checking target sizes, I've used lead, torn into small bits and weighed. Couple of small .1 or .2 gram bits glued to a popsicle stick should give you an idea of how small the pro will see, and how deep she'll see it.

Bill Southerns channel (nuggetshooter) does a lot of hunting with both vlf and pi. Won't see the at pro on his channel, but might help with looking into the benefits and drawbacks of each.
 
CurlyMB said:
Just a thought here. I would go do some swinging, maybe even look at dedicated vlf machines, maybe a used goldbug. Go get some shiny before spending enough to buy a nice used vehicle. Most of the people I've run into nuggetshooting (that have both) run vlf in areas with shallow bedrock, and pi in deeper stuff. PI will see deeper, vlf will see smaller, close to the surface targets.

Crevacing would be something I'd stick with a vlf machine for. Goldmoster 1000, gold bug, something along those lines. Don't think I've seen a detector hit on the small stuff as well as the GM1000.
I'll be heading to the gold fields here in a month, will be using my Nox 800. I'll stick to areas with fairly shallow bedrock. Someday I'll own a PI detector as well, until then, there is lots of gold to be found.
If your interested in checking target sizes, I've used lead, torn into small bits and weighed. Couple of small .1 or .2 gram bits glued to a popsicle stick should give you an idea of how small the pro will see, and how deep she'll see it.

Bill Southerns channel (nuggetshooter) does a lot of hunting with both vlf and pi. Won't see the at pro on his channel, but might help with looking into the benefits and drawbacks of each.
Click to expand...
I, ad a newbie in this Sector, tought that vlf detectors where always inferior to pi ones when looking for small gold nuggets, even cravicing. You are saying that the at pro, maybe with a 5x8 coil (which would be basically just a little less efficient than a at gold in detecting nuggets as far as I understood), could perform better in looking for small nuggets in cracks/bedrock than a pi detector? If so, do you think that a dedicated vlf gold macchine would be much better than the at pro in detecting gold nuggets? I use the pro on relics and it's just awsome, having the same machine also for gold would be handy and a less expensive option. I am just giving for sure that I would Find Gold in cracks Because I've already found many nuggets with the Pan.. I have also seen many Italians in my area with detectors finding Nuggets, using the AT Gold and the Gold bug two mostly.
 
You've got it! PI machines are great! And the the vlf machines are great too! Both are tools to be used in different circumstances. If, where your going the bedrock is shallow, or on the surface, a vlf detector is the go to choice. Deep targets? Choice to PI. AT gold would be more appropriate, but I believe some of the videos I've watched suggest the goldmoster and the goldbug to be more sensitive to really small stuff. The goldbug runs at 72 megahertz I believe, pretty sensitive to small stuff. With vlf, you'll find higher frequencies used for gold machines.

If 2 detectors is an option, I'd keep the pro for coin and relic shootin' and either get the GM1000 or a Fisher GB for the goldfields. If things go well, over time pick up a PI as well.

I was kinda here several months back. Hadn't had a machine in years and wanted to get back into swinging. Mostly its coin and relic, but the opportunity comes up several times a year to nugget hunt.
My choice seemed to be 2 dedicated machines. At least that's how it was when I swung last. But I ran across the Equinox series and the 800s gold modes. Was worried I'd be compromising somewhere. So far have only taken her around town, I'm impressed. Will be putting a lot of hours on her coming up in the Greaterville mining district in Az. We'll see how the gold mode works in the field. Guess I'm saying don't let what you swing keep you out of the goldfields. You never know what you'll pass the coil over. Crank the sensitivity, switch to all metal, and dig all targets.
 
Randello88 said:
Thanks for the answers. I have a 0.3 nugget o found in a river last year, i'll perform some tests. in regard to ground Balance, how does it work with the at pro? Any tip?
Click to expand...

You came up with the best plan on your own bud. See if you can find more videos or info on line but, definitely use your known piece of gold in different scenarios. Get a feel for how the machine reacts, try your own settings etc. Put that little gold piece in water filled small glass bottle with a non metallic cap, cork, whatever and you can bury it in the creek bottom, lodge it into cracks or the like and be sure to get it back.
 
Another queston. There is a big difference between less expensive vlf gold machines and the top quality ones? Where is the difference from a practical point of view between the gm1000 or the Fisher goldbug and a more exoensive machine?
 
Randello88 said:
Another queston. There is a big difference between less expensive vlf gold machines and the top quality ones? Where is the difference from a practical point of view between the gm1000 or the Fisher goldbug and a more exoensive machine?
Click to expand...

The difference between the GM1000 and the Fisher Goldbug is that the GM1000 is much newer technology and most people will find it way easier to use. In many areas you will have to re ground balance every now and then but that's real easy to do. With the Fisher you will have to ground balance fiddling with the knobs. Both detectors will find very small shallow gold. With both you need to dig every signal.

Most of your high end gold hunting detectors are Pulse Induction (PI) and will handle heavy mineralization with no problem or frequent ground balancing. Most of the best ones are made by Minelab and they are expensive. They will detect much deeper than VLF's like the Goldbug and GM1000 but might miss very tiny shallow gold.

For the kind of hunting you are talking about the GM1000 is hard to beat. The Equinox 800 with the 6" coil will also find tiny gold and will handle mineralized ground extremely well. Check out Nugget Shooter Journals on you tube and NuggetShooter.com. by Bill Southern. He can give you lots of incite and tutorials on these devices and gold hunting in general
 
bwftex said:
The difference between the GM1000 and the Fisher Goldbug is that the GM1000 is much newer technology and most people will find it way easier to use. In many areas you will have to re ground balance every now and then but that's real easy to do. With the Fisher you will have to ground balance fiddling with the knobs. Both detectors will find very small shallow gold. With both you need to dig every signal.

Most of your high end gold hunting detectors are Pulse Induction (PI) and will handle heavy mineralization with no problem or frequent ground balancing. Most of the best ones are made by Minelab and they are expensive. They will detect much deeper than VLF's like the Goldbug and GM1000 but might miss very tiny shallow gold.

For the kind of hunting you are talking about the GM1000 is hard to beat. The Equinox 800 with the 6" coil will also find tiny gold and will handle mineralized ground extremely well. Check out Nugget Shooter Journals on you tube and NuggetShooter.com. by Bill Southern. He can give you lots of incite and tutorials on these devices and gold hunting in general
Click to expand...
I see. It looks like thw gm1000 is so much better than my at pro with a 5x8 coil for this application of mine that buying another detdctor seems to be the best idea. Unfortunately used gm1000 are not very common, at least here overseas. I'll try to find one, anyway :)
 
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